


A Fledgling's Growth

by lifechiaroscuro



Category: Chronicles of Narnia (Movies), Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: Drabble Collection, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Near Death Experiences, Self-Sacrifice, War, attempted humor, sibling bonds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-03
Updated: 2014-09-03
Packaged: 2018-02-16 01:47:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2251362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lifechiaroscuro/pseuds/lifechiaroscuro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was then Peter decided it didn't matter where they were or what they were, be it a warrior, a monarch, a diplomat or a British school-goer. They loved and were loved regardless. And they had each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, all. This is the first work I've published on the site, though it was previously posted on FFN. It's a series of vignettes based in the Golden Age. A lot of them are kind of dark, sorry.  
> Also - If anyone has anything to say about format, or if you find any mistakes, please tell me.   
> And lastly, if anyone is willing to look through my fics - which will mostly be for the Avengers and Sherlock fandoms, actually - even on a case-to-case basis, I'd be really grateful. I haven't found another beta yet over on FFN.

Heal ~   
The young bird had died happy because of Lucy. But that didn’t make its passing any easier on her. “The thing is,” Edmund told her awkwardly at one point, “you can heal a heart or ease a mind, but you risk cutting yourself on the pieces.” He pulled the sobbing Lucy closer. 

“Remember, though,” he told her, voice becoming more assured, “that it was your help that made all the difference.” He felt her tense body relax, and as her crying became calmer, he hesitated, then softly kissed her cheek. Then he quietly spoke, saying, “The bird is with Aslan now, and in him we trust.”   
Just as Lucy so eagerly worked to heal everyone and everything, so now would he work to heal her. 

Touché ~   
“You what?!!”  
“I say we let her start training as soon as she asks. She’s 12, Peter. That’s older than I was during my first battles.”  
Peter seemed to tense even more at the mention of this. “And I suppose you think we should let her into battle in a couple of years!”  
“Yes, I do.”   
Peter stared at his brother with a shocked sort of disbelief.   
“Within boundaries of course Peter, and only if we think she’s well enough trained.”   
“But Edmund…” Peter stuttered weakly.   
Edmund’s expression softened. “I don’t like it any more than you do, but remember her title. She’ll end up doing something whether we like it or not, and I’d rather she was prepared as possible.”   
“Touche.” Peter’s face grew grave.   
“Peter?” Edmund drew his brother close.”   
“Ed…?”  
“I’m sorry.” It wasn’t clear what he was apologizing about , but it didn’t matter.   
“It’s just…”   
“I know.” 

Destroy ~   
Lucy had been walking with Peter in the gardens, and it seemed that she had managed to effectively forgotten the past events of the month. Then a shadow crossed her face as they were talking about how she had helped a squirrel find another home when the tree that she had lived in had been burned down. As Peter talked about how wonderful she was, always so selflessly helping her subjects, her face darkened until she looked up and spoke. 

“I do it for them, but then I do it for myself… trying to heal more is destroyed.” Lucy had never been one for holding back her feelings, and as he looked into her hollow eyes, he remembered what he had been trying to so desperately to push aside: Lucy had only recently gotten back from her first battle. And it had been horrible. It had been bloody, and the raiders had burned part of the forest. Peter knew he would never forget the screams of the dryads and those who had been trapped in it. Lucy hadn’t been as much In the thick of it as he had, but he was sure she had seen and heard things she didn’t want to remember. She had certainly done things she didn’t want to remember. 

Suddenly he understood, much better than he wished he did. And… there was a part of him that thirsted to heal, too. He decided Lucy would be his project of a sort. Perhaps he would enlist Edmund, for Lucy seemed to be feeling much too haunted for his darling sister. But there was a cure for that.


	2. Know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was inspired by PariahCam's _Scatterbrained_ over on FFN.

Label ~  
‘Just’ indeed! Edmund was acting the exact opposite of righteous! Really, he had no business doing anything in her room. Although those chipmunks had been rather adorable once she… but that was beside the point. He had gone too far this time, and she couldn’t catch him because he had too much of a head start. However…   
***************   
Peter turned the corner… and stopped short. Queen Susan ‘the Gentle’ was staring unseeingly at the tapestry, the expression on her face that of a calculating plotter. He slowly backed away around the corner. Poor Edmund. Peter had had his own experience with Susan’s ‘dark side’*, a most unfortunate incident concerning a porcupine and his underwear which he’d much rather not remember (though Peter believed the porcupine was as much of a victim as he was). He could say in complete confidence that Susan’s revenge would be anything but benign.  

Faith ~  
“Peter!” He heard the voice behind him, breathy and weak. He whirled around. Behind Peter, nearby, laid Edmund. 

“Edmund!” Peter ran to his brother’s side, lifting the fourteen-year-old’s head onto his lap, paying no attention to his own injured leg and myriad other small wounds. Edmund winced as he was moved, then gasped as his head touched Peter’s lap. 

“Why?” As Peter spoke, he noticed the leg of his breeches where Edmund’s head lay was becoming slightly damp. Peter’s breath hitched. Well, that accounted for all the blood in Edmund’s hair. Peter’s voice sounded a bit choked when he spoke next. 

“Why do you do this for me?” 

Peter’s question was empty, as he knew full well, but he continued anyway. 

“You could die.” Peter shifted Edmund so his little brother’s head was leaning against his chest. Edmund’s wince was instantaneous, though Peter could see he had tried to hold it in, for his brother’s sake. It was always for Peter’s sake, and it tore him apart. Of course the same could be said vice versa, but neither of them was in the state to voice such a fact. 

Peter’s voice broke. “You very well may die this time.” A few stray tears slipped out of his eyes, and Edmund was acutely aware of them as they landed on his head. 

Looking up at his brother, Edmund knew hazily that he would not stay conscious much longer. He said only a few words, knowing they would talk more when they returned to Cair Paravel. He would answer Peter properly, and probably end up saying more than he mean to. Edmund knew he wouldn’t object. 

“I know that Aslan watches over me… As do you.” 

“But how-? I mean we’ve always come back before, but-“ Peter broke off, unable to say what he was really wondering- How his brother could be so sure. Edmund’s, however, seemed to understand, and his cloudy eyes were filled with emotion that balanced out the pain. 

“Knowledge is only one half, Peter.” Edmund spoke to him quietly, and Peter could tell it took effort. 

“Faith is the other.” 

Peter stared at his brother a moment, then suddenly became aware once again of his brother’s injuries. Edmund looked bruised and bloody and Peter knew his brother must have a concussion, but what really worried him was when Edmund’s eyes started to close. 

“I won’t die here, Pete…” He trailed off. 

“Edmund!” Edmund’s eyes slid shut and Peter grabbed his shoulder. “Edmund…” They wouldn’t open! Couldn’t open…? “Please…” 

Staring at his brother and trying not to loose control, Peter gathered his brother into his arms and held him close, then heaved himself up. He started off with difficulty, making his way to the makeshift infirmary, carefully trying not to do anything that would hurt Edmund’s gashed and concussed head or broken ribs, or any of his other various injuries. And as he walked, he thought of his younger brother’s words and of Aslan, and he prayed. He prayed for Edmund, so pale in his arms, yet so young and full of faith. 

Queen ~  
Lucy is a queen. You can tell by the way she carries herself and from her conduct and her will to live and love life. Lucy is a Queen of Narnia and a Golden Sovereign. 

Susan is a queen. She has many connections, and great beauty, and she’s welcoming and simply charming, they say. Susan is a queen of society, and she is The One That Turned Away. 

Razzle-Dazzle ~  
When they first visited Narnia, they sent a barrage of entertainers and gifts that began a day before they arrived. They were looking to impress… and they did. 

From the moment the Tisroc’s son spoke, his words were honey-coated. They were meant to draw the siblings in… and Edmund saw right through them. 

The Calormenes were not to be trusted.

Cowabunga ~   
Edmund usually snuck into the water so he could surprise (at least one of) his siblings. Today, however, he had decided to do something completely different, which he hoped would surprise them all. 

The eleven-year-old peered over the edge of the cliff with slight trepidation (which he thought was somewhat absurd considering all that had happened rather recently). He took a breath, preparing to jump over the edge with a shout. (After all, it was only a few yards!) 

Peter and Susan swam obliviously below him. But wait-where was-   
A branch snapped behind Edmund, and as he fell he thought nothing of exclamations.   
He did, however, look up from the water to see a broadly grinning Lucy.   
   
Visual Effects ~   
Narnia, a sullen Edmund mused when he first entered it, seemed almost unreal. He thought it to be a sad and dull place, and (though he would never admit it) a bit scary. Everything and everyone seemed leering and unwelcoming. 

Everything and everyone, except… 

Her. 

He realized later that he had been lying to himself about it all, but at the time, all he knew was Her voice. 

Compromising ~  
"Peter... What are you doing with ribbons in your hair?" 

"…I am never making a bet with Lucy again..." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * We have fresh cookies!  
> On Queen: This is about Susan, after she rejects Narnia  
> Queen -  
> 1) A woman monarch in her own right.   
> 2) A woman noted for her beauty or accomplishments.


	3. Quirks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Half of this is total crackfic. Which is really odd for me, but hey. It's what popped up in my head.

Pumpkin ~  
“You look different…” 

“Edmund?” 

“Very different. Short, and round, and- orange, you’re o’ange-“

"Edmund!” Peter cried out as he jumped off his horse and ran to support Edmund, who had swayed, and nearly fallen off his horse when he fainted. “Great Lion, Edmund.” Peter said to his unconscious brother (whose weight was actually starting to become rather noticeable), as a soldier took Edmund’s horse, and he carried the other boy over to his own. 

“Now my horse is going to have to carry both of us!” His tone was rather gruff, but the undercurrent of worry was quite noticeable. 

“Well,” he told Edmund, his worry mounting as he trotted along with his concussed brother in front of him, “this teaches me not to take your word on these things. I’ll only get mistaken for a pumpkin!” He exclaimed. His voice was tight, however, and seemed shocked and worried instead of sarcastic. He looked in the direction of Cair Paravel, counting the hours until their arrival. 

Juice ~  
The fire flower juice is such a wondrous thing, Susan thinks. Always both loved and hated at the same time. 

She loves how it brings back her siblings from even the edge of death, revitalizing them. 

She hates how using the flower juice usually means they’re so close to death that it’s unlikely anything else would work. She hates the wait, the frantic mess that is flying there with that diamond bottle, always hoping she won’t be too late. And worse than that is those rare times when she barely gets there in time, and the breath stops. They always breathe again, yet those moments feel like eternities, and it still haunts her sometimes, those times they might not have, and how in the future they might not… 

She loves the taste of the fire-flower, ethereal, undescribable, blissful, sweet. It brings her back to life. 

What she hates the most, therefore, is the look that it sometimes brings to her siblings when it is she who needs the cordial. Though their hands are tender, and there is caring and worry and hurt in their eyes, that look is the look of one who knows that someone beloved to them has been terribly hurt, who knows that that person was the only target; even if that anger is only shows for a moment. 

But, Lion’s Mane, she was blessed. 

Red ~   
There were many kinds of red that Lucy knew. 

There was the red of beauty; of Susan’s carmine dress that she was sure Su would be wearing when they got home. 

The red of passion, like the rose Edmund had tucked behind her ear as he reminded her that she wasn’t named Valiant for nothing.  
He wished he could come, but she would be fine. 

...And there was the crimson of blood. She could see some on Peter, and felt it on herself, and she could remember quite clearly how… 

She tried not to think of that. 

She knew now, though, that there would be a talk in their tent this evening. There would be many talks about such now… 

But then there was scarlet.

The color of her kingdom. 

The color of her tunic, the one she wore now. 

Scarlet, so close to that terrible shade of crimson... But it wasn’t. 

It was the color of the lioness on the shield laid against a nearby rock. 

Aslan calls you his lioness and he quite agreed, her eldest brother had told her. 

And it was the color of the lion on the shield propped up beside hers. 

Peter’s. Her brother, who stood slightly ahead of her, making yet another victorious speech at the end of yet another campaign. Her first. Her brother, who brought a cheer from the lips of even the weariest of his troops, thrusting the scarlet banner into the air before they started home. 

Scarlet, the color of Narnia in all its glory. 

In that moment, she thought, Peter was the embodiment of his title, of his country. 

Magnificent. 

Pickle ~   
“…Peter?” 

“Yes, Susan?” 

“I know you’re not the best archer, but surely even you know that’s not the proper use of an arrow!?” 

Arrow ~   
“But it works so well… and it tastes so good!” 

“Give me back my arrow. Now.” 

“Well…” 

“Now that that’s settled… Peter!!” 

“Peter Pevensie, you stop chasing me right now!!” 

“GIVE ME BACK MY DELICIOUS DILL PICKLE!!!”


	4. Chapter 4

See ~  
Peter had wished, at times, that he didn’t have to witness the horrors he sometimes did. The darkness that covered his eyes now, however, was much worse, and his fumbling fingers as they tried to find his younger brother’s shoulders only served to make tears start their descent down Edmund’s face. 

They stung slightly, warm and salty against his cold hand, and he felt his own throat tighten at the pain he had caused his sibling. “Peter…” Edmund’s voice held the tiniest hint of a plea, and his hand clutched his older brother’s. 

Peter turned his head away, but at the moment, all he wanted was to see his brother’s face. 

Salt ~  
“The amount of salt you eat will kill you one day, Edmund,” Susan lectured him as he took a packet from the stand on their table. 

“Yes, I’m sure that’ll be it,” Edmund replied mildly as he dumped two packets onto his chips. 

Green ~  
The mistake had been horrible. She didn’t think she’d made such a foolish misjudgment that had cost so many lives. She was good at all to do with court, she knew, but she also knew now that she had gotten too sure. 

Rabadash had proven that she couldn’t always win at these twisted court games. 

She stood in the capital of Calormen, that nation’s great beauty, and all she wanted to see was the shores of Narnia. 

All she wanted to see was green. 

Apples ~  
The city seemed unnaturally quiet, and it was strong in the air. She could feel it, and it made her apprehensive. On impulse, she had run into a house, but she didn’t think that was going to stop it.

This was magic. 

A young man ran into the house, and without stopping, said, “I’m so sorry Issy, that I didn’t tell you, and I thought I had time, but they didn’t tell me and now it’s too late-“ he turned, and froze as he saw her. “You’re not Issy.” 

“No,” she said, feeling a bit embarrassed, “no I – “ 

“But I’m so sorry anyway. I’m so, so sorry.” 

His shoulders sunk in defeat and remorse. 

She studied his face a moment, and somehow, she seemed to say the one thing that could have made him feel slightly better. “In know. But you couldn’t have done anything about it.” 

“Thank you,” he told her, and it was so earnest for a complete stranger that she wondered if he was feeling it too. But then – 

“I smell apples,” she told him, feeling a strange wonderment. A sense of peace came over her, and she smiled slightly, looking to the east.

There was a moment of happiness and a brief flash of pain… and then she was no more.  


Percussion ~  
“Bloody hell…” 

“…Language….” a shocked Peter automatically reprimanded his brother. 

Unlike usually, there no sarcastic quip came as a response. 

It was Edmund who first regained his composure, though his distress still showed in his face. He started down the wind-swept hill, and Peter followed close behind.

Recently, it had become known to them that a Fell Hag had discovered how to make a magical sort of bomb. This was a powerful device was designed to spread fires throughout the area upon detonation. They could only hope that the creature could be stopped soon, and that it hadn’t told anyone else how to make such a thing. 

It was too late for Kyrae, though. The blackened city that spread before them was devastated. 

Crib ~  
Susan pulled out the children’s clothes and put them in the box she had brought up to the attic with her. As she turned, she saw the small child’s bed that she and her siblings had used when they were younger. Her family appeared fairly wealthy, but it was only by doing things such as furnishing the unseen parts of the house extremely sparsely that they had managed to maintain that appearance of wealth. When they were younger, she and her siblings had slept two to a bed. There had been two people in the little bed until Edmund was about seven (at which at which point they had actually made him double up with Peter in a bigger bed for another two years), and had been in use for another seven years after that. It was in surprisingly good shape, for all that it had been through, and it had, to Susan, an air of sentimentality to it. 

She thought of the big bed that sat in the upstairs room. It could be overwhelming for a child, she mused, especially one who she was sure would feel so frightened and out-of-place, to sleep in such a large bed.  
Perhaps, she thought, the bed could be used again. Just one more time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On Apples: The idea was that the guy had gotten mixed up in the plot to detonate the bomb, but the conspirators suspected he might turn traitor, so they moved the date they were going to set off the bomb (or maybe didn’t even quite tell him what they were doing and when). So basically, in “Apples”, he’s just found out about the bomb. The young woman knows nothing whatsoever about this, she just has a feeling that something big is about to happen, and that it has to do with magic.
> 
> On Crib: This is a prologue for Ad esse franci, the next fic (also from FFN) that I will be posting on this site.

**Author's Note:**

> On Heal: This is written just after they came to Narnia, so that's why Edmund might seem a bit awkward.  
> On Destroy: I do not mean to say that Lucy does nice things because of guilt, or something like that. I just feel like this could be a result of such a situation as the one she just went through.


End file.
